Cathie Wood’s ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has recently experienced daily outflows of over $87 million, surpassing Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) for the first time. ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) saw outflows of $87.5 million on Tuesday, equivalent to approximately 1,300 BTC. This marks the second consecutive day of outflows for ARKB, as it lost $300,000 on the previous trading day. In comparison, GBTC recorded a daily outflow of $81.9 million, continuing its trend of consistent outflows since its conversion to a spot ETF. Over the past five trading days, GBTC has shed an average of $254 million daily, totaling around $15.1 billion in outflows in the last three months.
Despite the outflows from ARKB and GBTC, BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund saw an inflow of $150.5 million, resulting in a net aggregate inflow of $40.3 million for the day. ARKB currently ranks as the third-largest among newly launched spot ETFs, excluding Grayscale, with $2.2 billion in assets under management (AUM). It lags behind BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s funds, which have respective AUMs of $14.1 billion and $7.6 billion. In terms of Bitcoin holdings, ARKB is the sixth-largest holder among funds, corporations, and miners, currently owning a total of 44,662 BTC. On the other hand, GBTC remains the leader in total Bitcoin held, with approximately 329,000 Bitcoin on its books despite shedding 291,000 Bitcoin since converting to an ETF.
The recent decline in the price of Bitcoin, dropping around 9% from last week’s high of $71,500 and briefly dipping below $65,000, has coincided with increasing outflows from ETFs. The introduction of the first-ever 2x and -2x leveraged spot Bitcoin ETFs, BITU and SBIT, has added to market dynamics. These leveraged ETFs are expected to be among the top 5 most volatile ETFs in the US, with a standard deviation of approximately 150%. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted a significant increase in Bitcoin ETF trading volume, reaching around $111 billion in March, nearly triple the combined volume of February and January.
Digital asset investment products saw a positive turnaround in sentiment last week, with inflows totaling $862 million, almost fully recovering from the record outflows of $931 million in the previous week. Bitcoin products attracted the majority of inflows, drawing around $865 million. However, Grayscale experienced outflows of $967 million during the same period. In terms of jurisdictions, the United States saw an additional $897 million in inflows, while Europe and Canada combined experienced outflows of $49 million, bringing the year-to-date outflows for these regions to $785 million. Despite recent volatility and outflows, the overall sentiment towards digital asset investment products appears to be improving as inflows rebound and new products enter the market.
